China ‘Quake Lake’ Waters Draining Safely

Water from a quake-spawned lake began draining safely Tuesday after efforts to channel the water away from towns and villages already hard-hit by the May 12 earthquake.

Official reports say a huge crest of water, filled with rubble from the massive 7.9 magnitude quake, has safely surged past the city of Mianyang in southwestern Sichuan province. Some minor flooding and minimal damage was reported.

The Tangjiashan lake had Chinese officials concerned when water began building behind a dam formed from landslide debris blocking a river major river. Fears that the earthen dam could burst, sending a wall of water into areas downstream, prompted massive efforts to safely drain the lake.

More than a million people were potentially in the path of floodwaters, and officials rushed to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people.